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I have never been ice fishing. But if I was to go it would be inside one of these amazing huts! Truth be told I am not big into fishing even in warm weather. In my books stopping at a grocery store to pick-up your fish is easier and more enjoyable. But that is me.

Ice fishing hut, not your grandfather’s hut

Tracks of all types

Getting out!

This past weekend with the slight break in the frigid temperatures I decided that I would head out. I wanted to see what I could find worth taking pictures of. There was a lot to shoot. It was not what I was expecting but there was a lot!

My first stop was at McQuillan Reservoir. In a very short walk I found a number of subjects to photograph. From the ice fishing tents, the animal tracks to some rabbits and a few birds it was a fun day. Cannot say that I got to walk very far as the slight breeze that was blowing was enough to make it painful to stay out. But with so many subjects to photograph I had to take pictures. It is also funny how after a number of days of clouds that a day of even a little sun makes being outside enjoyable.

Cleaning the house and found some money that I thought I had lost. Seeing it was so cold outside I figured that a shoot inside was in order. I have been playing with shallow depth of field lately but even with that if I put the bills on the floor or table the background was in focus as the bills are so thin. I did not want to damage the bills with tape, glue or a clip but I did want to have the bill in focus and a out of focus background. So I suspended the bills away from a background to throw the background out of focus by holding them in my fingers.

Macro Photography – now a one on one class

Crocus #1 2017

Do you want to learn how to improve your macro images? Would you like to spend a few hours learning more about your camera and how to do macro photography? This workshop is for you!!

This course will get you on the right paths shooting macro images. From pictures inside during the cold winter months to shooting the flowers and bugs of summer macro will open an entire new world for your photography.

The workshop starts with some teaching on cameras, equipment and technique. Then you will spend time shooting several macro subjects. After shooting I will then critique the work on the big screen advising how to improve your shooting and how to correct the images for the Internet and print..

Astro photography

For those that like to do astro photography and are trying not to have star trails there is a rule that you should know for this and your northern light photography.

By using this rule you will eliminate having stars move in your images making them look out of focus.

The rule is as follows, you take the millimeters of the lens that you are shooting and divide it into either 500 or 600. The resulting number will give you the maximum number of seconds that you can expose the shot for before you will see star trails.

So why either 500 or 600? Well for years I have used 600 and I was happy. Lately I have been doing some more tests and have found under extreme magnification that I am getting some movement. There could be a few reasons for this but I am leaning to the 500 at this point to see if this will be even sharper or if there is a real difference. The following calculations are done using 600 but if you want to use 500 just use that number instead of the 600. I will keep testing and let you know if there is a difference.

Now this is assuming that you are using a steady tripod and that you have your ISO set correctly. But the good thing is that it will give you a starting point to know where the line is between getting tack sharp stars and star movement.

One note: you need to work with the 35mm equivalent lens size.

So how does it work?

25 seconds using a 24mm lens on a full frame camera

Full Frame Sensors

On full frame cameras (cameras with full frame sensors) you would do the following:

Lens – 50mm

600/50 = 12 So you could shoot at a shutter speed up to 12 seconds before you will see star movement.

Or for a 24mm lens

600/24 = 25 So you can expose for 25 seconds

885.7 seconds using a 24 mm lens

APS Sized Sensors

On a camera that has an APS size sensor with a 1.6 conversion ratio you would do the following

Lens – 50mm

50 x 1.6 = 80

600/80 = 7.5 So you could shoot up to 8.6 seconds before you would see star trails

Or for a 24 mm

24 x 1.6 = 38.4

600/38.4 = 15 So you could expose for 15 seconds before you would see star trails

Do you want to learn how to improve your macro photography? Would you like to spend a few hours learning more about your camera to help you take macro images?

Do all this and more in the warmth of the studio!

January 12 2019 from 10am till 2pm I will be offering a Macro Workshop.

The workshop will start with some teaching on macro photography, then we will spend most of the time shooting several macro subjects that will be set-up around the studio. After the shooting we will take some time to critique each students work.

One of the many disorders that has been in the forefront of the public eye lately is SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. As winter comes it becomes more reported on to the point of being annoying. When I was growing up my Mother called it cabin fever but that was not cool enough so the disorder of SAD was born. It is something that many if not all people suffer from and many have it but don’t know they have it. It effects people in different ways, some more severe than others.

Cold winter day – not only does everything look B&W it can feel like everything is B&W